ARE THE BRIC ECONOMIES ENTREPRENEUR-FRIENDLY? AN INSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Abstract
How conducive are the institutional environments in the BRIC countries to support entrepreneurship? We employ the Busentiz et al. (2000) survey instrument on a sample of 490 business students from Brazil, Russia, India and China to compare the perceived favorability of their regulatory, cognitive, and normative environments to entrepreneurship. We find no significant differences in the perceived favorability of the regulatory environment, but significant differences in the perceived favorability of the cognitive and normative environments. While the cognitive dimension of the institutional environment in Russia and China is perceived as more conducive to entrepreneurship compared to Brazil and India, the normative dimension in China, India, and Brazil is perceived as more favorable compared to Russia. These differences reflect the wide divergence in the BRIC countries' cultural norms and values, traditions, and institutional heritage and have important implications for future research, managerial practice, and public policy.
